Thor Strongest Statements

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His wife was called Frigg Fiorgvin’s daughter, and from them
is descended the family line that we call the Æsir race, who have
resided in Old Asgard and the realms that belong to it, and that
whole line of descent is of divine origin. And this is why he can be
called All-father, that he is father of all the gods and of men and of
everything that has been brought into being by him and his power.
The earth was his daughter and his wife. Out of her he begot the
first of his sons, that is Asa-Thor. He was possessed of power and
strength. As a result he overcomes all living things.


- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning


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‘Odin is called All-father, for he is father of all gods. He is also
called Val-father [father of the slain], since all those who fall in
battle are his adopted sons. He assigns them places in Val-hall and
Vingolf, and they are then known as Einheriar. He is also called
Hanga-god [god of the hanged] and Hapta-god [god of pris-
oners], Farma-god [god of cargoes], and he called himself by
various other names on his visit to King Geirrod:
“ I call myself Grim and Ganglari, Herian, Hialmberi,
Thekk, Third, Thunn, Unn, Helblindi, High, Sann, Svipal,
Sanngetal, Herteit, Hnikar, Bileyg, Baleyg, Bolverk, Fiolnir,
Grimnir, Glapsvinn, Fiolsvinn, Sidhott, Sidskegg, Sig-
father, Hnikud, All-father, Atrid, Farmatyr, Oski, Omi,
Just-as-high, Blindi, Gondlir, Harbard, Svidur, Svidrir, Ialk,
Kialar, Vidur, Thror, Ygg, Thund, Vakr, Skilfing, Vafud,
Hropta-Tyr, Gaut, Veratyr.” ’

Then spoke Gangleri: ‘What a terrible lot of names you have
given him! By my faith, one would need a great deal of learning to
be able to give details and explanations of what events have given
rise to each of these names.’

Then said High: ‘It is very instructive to go closely into all this.
But to put it in a word, most names have been given him as a result
of the fact that with all the branches of languages in the world,
each nation finds it necessary to adapt his name to their language
for invocation and prayers for themselves, but some events giving
rise to these names have taken place in his travels and have been
made the subject of stories, and you cannot claim to be a wise man
if you are unable to tell of these important happenings.’

Then spoke Gangleri: ‘What are the names of the other Æsir?
And what do they do? And what glorious works have they done?’
High said: ‘Thor is the most outstanding of them; he is known
as Asa-Thor [Thor of the Æsir] or Oku-Thor [driving-Thor]. He
is strongest of all the gods and men. His realm is a place called
Thrudvangar, and his hall is called Bilskirnir. In that hall there are
five hundred and forty apartments. It is the biggest building that
has ever been built. Thus it says in Grimnismal:

Five hundred apartments and yet forty more I think are in
Bilskirnir in all. Of the buildings whose roofs I know, I
know my son’s is the greatest.

Thor has two goats whose names are Tanngniost and Tanngris-
nir, and a chariot that he drives in, and the goats draw the chariot.
From this he is known as Oku-Thor.


- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning


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Then spoke Gangleri: ‘Skidbladnir is a good ship, but it must
require a very great deal of magic to make something like that.
Has Thor never got into such a situation that he has come up
against such great power or might that he has found it more than
he could manage because of strength or magic?’

Then spoke High: ‘I expect there are few people that can tell
about that, though he has found many situations hard to deal
with. But even if it has happened that something or other has been
so powerful or strong that Thor has not managed to defeat it, yet
there is no need to speak of it, for there is much evidence to show,
and everyone is bound to believe, that Thor is mightiest.’

Then spoke Gangleri: ‘It looks to me as though I must have
asked you something that none of you is capable of telling me.’

Then spoke Just-as-high: ‘We have heard tell of some events
which it seems to us impossible to believe can be true, but I guess
there is one sitting not far off who will be able to give a true
account of it, and you can be confident that he will not lie now for
the first time who never lied before.’

Then spoke Gangleri: ‘Here I shall stand and listen whether
anyone offers a solution to this matter, and if not I declare you are
overcome if you are not able to tell what I ask.’

Then spoke Third: ‘It is clear now that he is determined to
know this story even though it does not seem to us nice to tell. But
you are not to interrupt.


- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning

(Note: This one is a lead into the story of Utgarda-Loki, who was able to use various magical tricks to test Thor's power.)


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Then spoke Gangleri: ‘It was quite an achievement of Loki’s
when he brought it about first of all that Baldr was killed, and also
that he was not redeemed from Hel. But was he punished at all for
this?’

High said: ‘He was requited for this in such a way that he will
not soon forget it. The gods having become as angry with him as
one might expect, he ran away and hid in a certain mountain, built
a house there with four doors so that he could see out of the house
in all directions. But in the daytime he often turned himself into
the form of a salmon and hid in a place called Franangr waterfall.
Then he pondered what sort of device the Æsir would be likely to
think up to catch him in the waterfall. And as he sat in the house
he took some linen thread and tied knots in it in the way in which
ever since a net has been. A fire was burning in front of him. Then
he noticed that the Æsir were only a short distance away from
him, and Odin had seen where he was from Hlidskialf. He
immediately jumped up and out into the river throwing the net
down into the fire. And when the Æsir reached the house then the
first to enter was the wisest of all, called Kvasir. And when he saw
in the fire the shape in the ashes where the net had burned he
realized that it must be a device to catch fish, and told the Æsir.
After that they went and made themselves a net just like what they
saw in the ashes that Loki had made. And when the net was
finished the Æsir went to the river and threw the net into the
waterfall. Thor held one end and all the Æsir held the other and
they dragged the net^ But Loki went along in front and lay down
between two stones. They dragged the net over him and could tell
there was something live there and went a second time up to the
waterfall and threw out the net and weighted it down so heavily
that nothing would be able to go underneath. Then Loki went
along in front of the net, and when he saw that it was only a short
way to the sea then he leaped up over the top of the net and slipped
up into the waterfall. This time the Æsir saw where he went, they
went back up to the waterfall and divided their party into two
groups, and Thor waded along the middle of the river and thus
they advanced towards the sea. And when Loki saw there were
two alternatives - it was mortal danger to rush into the sea, but so
it was also to leap again over the net - and this is what he did,
leaped as swiftly as he could over the top of the net. Thor grabbed
at him and got his hand round him and he slipped in his hand so
that the hand caught hold at the tail. And it is for this reason that
the salmon tapers towards the tail.


- Prose Edda, Gylfaginning

(Note: The feat here is that when they're trying to catch Loki, Thor holds one end of the net while all the other Aesir need to hold the other end.)


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